


Another Christmas Carol

by mldrgrl



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-08
Updated: 2015-12-08
Packaged: 2018-05-05 13:58:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5377784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mldrgrl/pseuds/mldrgrl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something that could have happened at the end of How the Ghosts Stole Christmas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Another Christmas Carol

The last thing Mulder remembered was chuckling to himself when Scully said she was just going to rest her eyes for a moment. He’d heard that one a thousand times before on countless drives all over the country.  He always envied Scully’s ability to fall asleep anywhere and within seconds.  He had turned down the volume on A Christmas Carol before closing his own eyes and sliding down a little further on the couch.

 

Mulder was surprised when he woke that the TV was off and that the room was blue.  It didn’t make any sense.  There was also a haze blurring his vision, like a fog had rolled in and settled in his living room. He looked down at Scully, still asleep beside him on the couch.

 

“Agent Mulder,” called a booming voice.

 

Mulder jumped up from the couch. He reached to his hip for his weapon and came up empty handed.  “Who’s there?” he called.

 

“Agent Mulder.”

 

Out of the blue fog of the living room a man appeared. He started as a dark shape and gradually the fog surrounding him seemed to cover him and become him.

 

“Deep Throat?”  Mulder squeezed his eyes closed and shook his head.  When he opened his eyes again, Deep Throat was still standing in front of him, impeccably dressed in a dark suit, hands shoved in his pockets. “You’re dead,” Mulder said.

 

“You of all people should realize, Agent Mulder, that being dead doesn’t stop someone when the truth is involved.”

 

“The truth?  You’ve come back from the dead to tell me the truth?  Now?”

 

“I came to deliver a message.”

 

“What might that be?”

 

“On this night you will be visited by three ghosts.”

 

“I’ll be sure to leave out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk.”

 

“Listen to me Agent Mulder.  You will be visited by three ghosts; each one with their own unique vision for you.  If you ever hope to know the truth, you’ll consider carefully to what they have to show you.”

 

“Well I’ve got news for you, I’ve already spent time with two ghosts tonight and I don’t know that I have room for three more.”

 

“The truth is out there Agent Mulder.” Deep Throat gave Mulder a disapproving nod and then he dissipated into a haze of blue fog.

 

As soon as Deep Throat vanished, there was a heavy pounding on the front door.  One, two, three knocks, that seemed to shake the room.  Scully was still miraculously asleep.  Mulder frowned and went to the door, yanking it open. He didn’t see anything at first and he stepped into the hall, looking left and right before he felt a small tug at his pants, down by his knee. 

 

Mulder gasped.  “Emily?”

 

“Mr. Potatohead,” Emily said. “I am the ghost of Christmas past.”

 

Mulder ushered Emily inside and knelt down in front of her.  He felt her forehead with the back of his hand and then pushed her hair aside, checking the back of her neck under her red turtleneck.  She was cool as a cucumber and her neck was smooth and clear.  Mulder stared at her and she stared back with her solemn, blue, Scully eyes.  She put her chubby toddler hands on Mulder’s face and everything went black for a moment.

 

The scenery changed in an instant. One minute he was kneeling by his door in front of Emily and then Mulder realized he was no longer in his foyer, but in another room entirely, one that only looked vaguely familiar at first. He recognized the Christmas tree next to the fireplace and then looked up at the pictures on the mantle. He was in Bill Jr.’s living room.

 

“Why are we here, Emily?”

 

Emily turned Mulder’s head and pointed. Scully was asleep on the couch, restlessly it seemed.  She turned one way and then another and finally she opened her eyes with a sigh.

 

“Scully?” Mulder asked, rising to his feet and stepping towards her.

 

“She can’t hear you,” Emily said.

 

Mulder watched Scully rise from the couch and move to the kitchen.  Emily took Mulder’s hand and gave it a tug, pulling him forward.  They both followed Scully into the kitchen where she stood before a yellow phone attached to the wall.  She had her hand on the receiver, but she didn’t pick it up.  Instead she laid her forehead against the back of her hand. Finally, she grabbed the phone from the cradle and opened the door to the basement, stretching the long cord with her before closing the door.

 

Emily pulled on Mulder’s hand with a strength that surprised him and headed straight for the door.  “Emily, we can’t-” Mulder was about to tell her that they couldn’t just walk through walls, but as it turned out, they could. One moment they were in the kitchen and then next they were on the stairs leading down to the basement. The chain of an overhead lightbulb swung wildly above them.  Scully was sitting on the top step, the phone in her lap, her finger depressing the switch hook to stop the dial tone.

 

Mulder sat down next to Scully and he was surprised when Emily climbed sideways into his lap, putting an arm around his shoulder and hanging on to his neck.  They both watched Scully worry her bottom lip with her teeth before she looked at the phone and then began to dial.  She put the phone to her ear and then lifted her eyes to the ceiling.

 

“Mulder, it’s me,” Scully said.

 

Mulder glanced at Emily who looked up at him, nodding.

 

“Did I wake you?” Scully asked.

 

“No,” Mulder murmured.  “I was already awake.”

 

“Look, I…I hate to interrupt your vacation, and I know it’s the holidays, but…”

 

“Oh Scully, as if I had any plans for the holidays.”

 

“But, I have to ask you to come to San Diego. No, no, everything’s fine, it’s just…”

 

“Liar,” Mulder said, shaking his head.

 

“It’s just I sort of stumbled into a case and I think this is more your area of expertise, not mine.”

 

Emily’s fingers fluttered at Mulder’s neck and he looked at her. 

 

“She didn’t want to tell me over the phone,” Mulder said.  He was rather amused to see the patented Scully eyebrow of audacity.  Even a three year old knew it was a lame excuse.

 

“You can call my cell phone when you know what time your flight gets in.  I’ll pick you up.”

 

Scully hung up the phone and stared straight ahead. “And I need you,” she whispered. Within seconds, she was hugging her knees, bent over into a little ball and sobbing in a shoulder-shaking, gasping way that he’d never seen before.

 

“Scully,” Mulder whispered.  When he tried to put his arm around her, his body fell forward into air and he had to quickly grab onto Emily so she wouldn’t fall off his lap. “Why did you bring me here if I can’t do anything?”

 

“Maybe not now, but you can.”

 

It seemed like Scully would never stop crying, but her thumb must have slipped from the switch hook at some point and suddenly the sound of her sobs was interrupted by loud, off-the-hook beeping. Scully straightened and pressed the switch hook again, rubbing tears from her face with the back of her hand, instantly composed.  She sniffed and stood and opened the door before yanking the chain on the lightbulb to turn it off. Mulder was able to stand, still holding Emily, and jumped through the door before she shut it.

 

Scully returned the phone to the cradle and then put her hands over her face.  She stood silently for a long time and Mulder moved closer to her.  He knew he wasn’t able to touch her, but he wanted to somehow will his presence onto her, to let her know he was there. Finally, Scully trudged to the living room and curled up on the couch.

 

Mulder put Emily on her feet and she went over to Scully and knelt down in front of her.  She put her chin in her hands and plopped her elbows onto the cushions next to Scully’s head.  Mulder didn’t understand how it worked, but he tested out the possibility of sitting on the couch next to her hips.  He was able to do it, but he could tell he didn’t even make a dent in the cushions. He let his hand hover over Scully’s head, moving down over her shoulder and over her back. Scully shivered and pulled the blanket off the back of the couch to cover herself.

 

Mulder looked at Emily.  “Could she...?”

 

Emily shook her head, her eyes big and sad. “We have to go now,” she said.

 

“But, we only just-” Mulder had barely protested when he found himself standing in his living room again. “Emily?” he called, spinning around, looking for the little girl.  He was surprised to see Scully, still asleep, on his couch.  He hurried over to her and put a hand on her shoulder to wake her. “Scully?”

 

“That won’t work.”

 

Mulder almost fell backwards in his haste to stand. Melissa Scully was there, leaning against the wall between his foyer and living room, watching her sister sleep. Her arms were crossed in a defiant, no-nonsense pose that Mulder knew well.  She glanced at Mulder before she strode across the room, floral dress swishing at her ankles, gold charm of her choker bobbing at her throat.

 

“Melissa?”

 

Melissa sat down next to Scully on the couch and glared up at Mulder.

 

“Do all the Scully’s hate me so intensely?” Mulder asked.

 

“I don’t hate you, Mr. Mulder, I just want what’s best for my sister.”

 

“We happen to have that in common.”

 

“Oh really?”  Melissa snapped her fingers and suddenly she and Mulder when in the back seat of his car watching him implore Scully to investigate a haunted house.

 

“Let me guess,” Mulder said, turning towards Melissa. “The ghost of Christmas present.”

 

“Do you think this is her idea of fun, Mr. Mulder?”

 

“It’s just Mulder, and sometimes, yes it is.”

 

Front-Seat-Mulder got out of the car, followed by Scully, shortly thereafter.  Melissa yanked Mulder across the back seats and through the closed door to follow Scully on her trek up the stairs to the house.  Scully grumbled to herself the whole time and checked her watch.

 

“I’m about to get arrested for breaking and entering,” Scully groused.  “On Christmas.”

 

“Oh please,” Mulder said.  “Breaking and entering.”

 

Melissa glared at Mulder.  She snapped her fingers again and they were in the library of the house, watching Scully yank frantically on the locked door.

 

“What do you think you two are doing here?”

 

Mulder turned around, helplessly confused. He looked from Melissa to Scully to Lyda, who had somehow appeared out of thin air.  Melissa rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

 

“Unlike you,” Melissa said to Lyda, “I have a job.”

 

“I have one as well, thank you very much.” Lyda sniffed and adjusted her nightgown as she scowled at Mulder and Melissa.

 

“Haunting people is a pastime,” Melissa retorted. “It’s not productive, nor is it a job.”

 

“Now hold on a second,” Lyda argued. “He’s the dumb schmuck on the other side of that door that’s supposed to commit murder and-or suicide tonight! What are you trying to pull?”

 

“No one’s committing any murders or suicides here tonight,” Melissa said.

 

“Well, we’ll see about that,” Lyda gave a haughty shake of her head and flounced across the room towards Scully.

 

“I have to ask you again,” Melissa said, inclining her head towards Scully who was waving her weapon at Lyda in panic. “You think this is fun for her?”

 

“Melissa, I swear to you, if the next word out of your mouth is paramasturbatory, I’ll-”

 

Melissa snapped her fingers and suddenly they were standing in a pool of blood in the hallway of the haunted mansion. Scully was dragging herself towards the door while Mulder dragged himself behind her.  They pointed their guns at each other.

 

“You shot me!” Scully yelled, coughing blood.

 

“You shot me first!”

 

“I would never shoot her,” Mulder said to Melissa. “Never.”

 

“Why not?” Melissa asked drily. “She shot you once.”

 

“Yeah, well I deserved it.”

 

Melissa gave Mulder a funny look before she snapped her fingers again.  They were back in his apartment and Scully was digging into the tube of imported chocolates Mulder had given her, trying desperately to pluck the plastic wrapping from the top.

Mulder was reading the back of the VHS tape called Legendary Lighthouses that Scully had given him.

 

“Scully did you know that the most haunted lighthouse in the country is in Maryland?” Mulder asked.

 

“Mulder, I’m pretty sure that if we waited until say, April or May, the ghosts will still be there.”

 

“What’s in April or May?”

 

“Warmer weather.”

 

“I’ll look into it.”  Mulder snagged one of the chocolates from Scully’s tube just as she finally broke the seal.

 

“Hey!”

 

Melissa snapped her fingers again and the apartment grew a little darker.  Mulder and Scully were both asleep on the couch.  Scully’s head was angled towards Mulder’s, almost touching his bicep. Mulder felt odd seeing himself from outside himself.  He sat down on the coffee table and leaned forward with his forearms on his knees.

 

“What do you want me to see here?” Mulder asked.

 

Melissa sat down beside him and remained silent. They both watched the sleeping pair on the couch.  Scully’s head fell and bumped Mulder’s shoulder.  She rolled her eyes open briefly and then sighed and snuggled against his arm. Coffee-Table-Mulder smiled.

 

“My sister is beautiful and brilliant,” Melissa said and Mulder nodded in agreement.  “She has always been strong and independent and determined.”

 

“I know all of that.”

 

“And she would follow you over a cliff.”

 

“Are you implying she’s the Thelma to my Louise?”

 

“This isn’t a joke, Mr. Mulder.”

 

“Just Mulder,” Mulder said with clenched teeth. “And I’ve had to deal with not one, not two, but five, fairly abusive and judgmental spirits tonight, so cut me a little slack, Melissa.  I don’t want Scully hurt any more than you do.  I’ve spent so much time protecting her from walking into danger it’s practically a second career! Which, I might add, only succeeds in pissing her off most of the time.  So I don’t know how you can sit there and tell me that she doesn’t want to be here because in some ways, I’ve done everything I can to make her leave even when I thought it would kill me to see her go.”

 

“I never said she didn’t want to be here,” Melissa said, calmly.  “You really never listen do you?”

 

“One of my finer qualities.”

 

“Do you really never stop to wonder why it is that she’s here?” Melissa asked, standing and crossing her arms. “Why it is that she will follow you into the unknown when you ask?  Why it is that she gets angry with you when you leave her behind?  Don’t you ever just look at her and wonder why?”

 

Mulder looked at Scully and then back up at Melissa. “I don’t know.”

 

“You’re a smart man.  She’s a smart woman.  And you are both very stupid.”

 

Melissa snapped her fingers and Mulder woke with a sharp jerk.  He rubbed his face with both hands and then he turned to look at Scully.  She was slumped away from him, deep in sleep. He cupped her jaw and then pushed the hair back over her ear, but she didn’t stir.

 

“Scully?”

 

Mulder didn’t notice it at first, but there was a ticking of a clock somewhere that started getting louder.  Stroking Scully’s cheek, he glanced around the room. An eerie, red glow filtered in through the windows.  The ticking grew almost deafening and he got up to find the source.  He searched his room and his bathroom and when he came back out into the living room he stopped in his tracks and the ticking stopped as well. Standing over Scully was a small figure in a dark, shimmering cloak, looking like the grim reaper minus a sickle.

 

“Don’t hurt her,” Mulder said.

 

“Of course not,” whispered the reaper twin. It had an unidentifiable voice, though Mulder found it vaguely familiar at the same time.

 

“Ghost of Christmas Future?”

 

The ghost nodded.

 

“Do I know you?”

 

“You can call me Ghost, if you need to,” Ghost answered.

 

“Well, might as well get this party started.”

 

Ghost walked over to Mulder and stood in front of him. It was Scully-sized, barely reaching his shoulder.  Mulder tried looking under the hood but all he saw was an empty void.  Ghost raised its arms and its hands came over Mulder’s eyes, closing them.  The velvet of Ghost’s sleeves caressed Mulder’s face and then fell away.

 

“Ghost?”  Mulder opened his eyes in an unfamiliar setting. Ghost stood beside him, silent.

 

Mulder glanced around at his new environment. He seemed to be in a very well-furnished, expensive log cabin.  The room he was in obviously belonged to a child.  A small bed was pushed against a pine wall, neatly made with a pastel blue homemade quilt.  A bookshelf in the corner held carefully constructed Lego models of small spaceships and rockets.

 

“What is this place?” Mulder asked.

 

Just then a little boy, no more than five or six, with dark, red-gold hair and bright blue eyes came into the room. He paused in the doorway and shifted his grip on a Lego set that was bigger than he was.  His gaze seemed to fall directly on Mulder, but then he lowered his eyes and half carried, half dragged his Lego set across the room and let it drop in front of his bed.

 

The boy kneeled down on a circular throw rug in front of his bed and began carefully peeling off the stickers that sealed the Lego box. He hummed to himself as he worked. “Joy to the world,” the boy sang quietly.  “All the boys and girls.”

 

“Ghost, who is…?”

 

Ghost raised an arm and put a hand over Mulder’s mouth. Its hood shook slightly. The boy paused and stopped singing. He turned his head slightly and Mulder saw the corner of his eyes as he surreptitiously looked over his shoulder.

 

“I know you’re there,” the little boy said. “I know who you are.”

 

“You know who I am?” Mulder asked.

 

The boy twisted at the waist and looked up at Mulder. He stared at him, blinking a few times. Mulder thought he had Emily’s soulful, sad eyes.

 

“You know who I am?” Mulder asked again.

 

The little boy turned back to his Legos and started humming again.  “Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea,” he whispered.  “Joy to you and me.”

 

“Ghost, what is this.  Tell me.”

 

Ghost stepped between Mulder and the boy and pushed the hood of the cloak back.  Her long dark hair fell over her shoulders as she tipped her face up to Mulder’s.

 

“Samantha?” Mulder whispered.

 

“Fox.”

 

Mulder grabbed Samantha’s shoulders, his eyes filling with tears.  “Samantha, where are you? I’ve been trying to find you for so long.”

 

“You’re not going to find me. Not how you want me.”

 

“I won’t give up on you.”

 

“It’s okay.  When the time comes, you’ll let me go.”

 

“No.”

 

“You have to.”

 

“You have to!” the boy interrupted, getting to his feet and spilling plastic bags of Legos onto the floor.

 

Samantha stepped to the side and put a hand on the boy’s back.  “Fox, this is William.”

 

“He can really see me?”

 

“Yes, he can see you.  William is special.”

 

Mulder crouched and met William at eye-level. There was something so familiar about him.  William took a few small steps forward and wrapped his arms around Mulder’s neck, hugging him tightly. Mulder instinctively hugged him back, looking up at Samantha.

 

“Is he mine?” Mulder asked.

 

Samantha nodded.

 

“Is he Scully’s?” Mulder asked.

 

Samantha nodded again.

 

Mulder closed his eyes and held William close. “What’s wrong here?” he asked. “Something’s wrong.”

 

“You made a choice before William was born, before you knew he was coming.  You just couldn’t stop looking, even when there was nothing left to look for.”

 

“Please, Daddy,” William whispered in Mulder’s ear. “Please remember me when you go home.”

 

“Where’s Scully?” Mulder asked. “Is she here?”

 

“William is special,” Samantha said. “Scully couldn’t protect him. Not on her own.”

 

“Protect him from who?  From what?  Why is she on her own?”

 

“Just don’t go,” William whispered. “Just don’t go.”

 

“Fox, we can’t stay any longer.”

 

“I can’t leave him.”

 

“The future is a choice, Fox,” Samantha said, putting a hand over Mulder’s eyes.  “There’s still time.”

 

Mulder opened his eyes.  It’s a Wonderful Life was playing on TV.  Scully was asleep beside him on the couch. He stretched and ran a hand through his hair before relaxing into the cushions and turning his head to look at Scully. He touched her cheek softly and Scully stirred, her eyes rolling open.

 

“What time is it?” Scully murmured.

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” She sighed and then closed her eyes again.

 

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

 

Scully opened one eye and her brow went up. “What did you mean to do?”

 

“I don’t know.  I had a dream.”

 

“Bad dream?”

 

“Weird dream.”

 

“What about?”

 

“I…” Mulder pulled at the recesses of his memory, but he only knew that he had a weird dream though he couldn’t recall what it was. “You were there. I think you were there.”

 

“Yeah?  What about the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion?”

 

“I think they had the night off.”

 

“I should get going.”

 

“Do you have to?”

 

Scully laid her head back against the couch and blinked at Mulder.  She brought her arm up and lifted her sleeve to check her watch and then dropped her hands to her lap.

 

“Can you promise to wake me in an hour?” Scully asked.

 

“I can do that.”

 

“All right.”  Scully closed her eyes again and shifted around to get comfortable.

 

Mulder draped his arm over the back of the couch and scooted closer to Scully until he could touch the side of her shoulder. Gently, he guided Scully’s head down to rest on his chest.  She opened her eyes immediately and picked her head up, giving him a quizzical look, but then hesitantly laid her head back down.  Mulder gave her shoulder a small squeeze and rested his cheek against her head, breathing deeply.

 

“Merry Christmas, Scully.”

 

“Merry Christmas, Mulder.”

 

*****

 

Epilogue:

 

Mulder rolled over in bed and reached for Scully only to find emptiness.  Her side was still warm.  He pushed the comforter away and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.  He glanced over at the bedside table on Scully’s side and noticed that the baby monitor was turned off.  Yawning, he stepped out of bed and winced when his bare feet hit the cold wood floor.

 

The baby’s room was the first place Mulder checked, but Scully wasn’t there.  He headed down the stairs and found Scully in the living room, standing in front of the Christmas tree and swaying with the baby.

 

“Scully?” Mulder said, quietly.

 

Scully turned slightly and smiled. The baby was awake; big blue eyes illuminated by the twinkling colored lights of the Christmas tree.

 

“We were just looking at the lights,” Scully said, quietly.

 

Mulder shuffled up behind Scully and rubbed a hand over her back.  He bent and placed a soft kiss on the baby’s chubby cheek.  “You turned off the monitor,” he said.

 

“Didn’t want to wake you.”

 

Mulder hummed in response and rubbed a circle on the back of Scully’s shoulder with his palm.

 

“Do you remember that Christmas you tricked me into exploring that haunted house?” Scully asked.

 

“I think trick is a strong word. I may have called and requested the pleasure of your company on my exploration.”

 

Scully looked over the top of the baby’s head at Mulder like he’d just told her it was snowing diamonds outside.

 

“Yes,” he said.  “I think I remember the Christmas in which you speak of, my darling.”

 

Scully rolled her eyes.

 

“Why?” Mulder asked.

 

“I don’t know.  I was just thinking that it had been a long time since I’d enjoyed Christmas, until that particular night.”

 

“If I knew ghost hunting turned you on, I would’ve suggested it a lot sooner.”

 

“I wasn’t talking about the ghost hunting.”

 

“No?”

 

“When you asked me to stay the night.”

 

Mulder looked down at Scully as she swayed. She began to hum softly, her lips brushing the baby’s temple, but her eyes on Mulder.  “Joy to the world,” she sang.  “All the boys and girls.”

 

Mulder had an eerie moment of déjà vu. He felt like he was reliving a moment in time in a different way.  He’d had similar moments in the past that always left him feeling like he’d just reached a significant crossroads.  The first time he’d felt it was when he’d encountered his sister’s ghost in a California forest.  The second time he’d felt it was when he’d woken up in Scully’s bed, with Scully in his arms. The third time he’d felt it was on a plane back from Bellefleur, Oregon, Scully’s health at the forefront of his mind.

 

Mulder remembered the look on Scully’s face when he slipped into her hospital room to tell her that he’d just quit the FBI. She thought he was crazy when he said that halfway through the flight, he’d written a letter of resignation, handed it to Skinner as they deplaned in Denver to catch a connecting flight to Portland, and went to the nearest ticket counter to purchase a ticket to DC. If there was a spaceship in Oregon, let someone else be the one to find it.  He had a bad feeling about it all and he was done with bad feelings. After asking repeatedly if he was sure about it, she told him she was pregnant, and he knew he’d made the right decision.

 

The fourth time he felt it was when he held his son for the first time.  And the fifth time he felt it was when he held his daughter for the first time. William and Hannah, the reason for everything.

 

“Is Santa here?”

 

Mulder and Scully both turned. William stood in the doorway, rubbing his eyes.  His hair stuck up in all directions like tiny flames.  One of the legs of his solar system pajamas was pulled up past his knee.

 

“What are you doing awake?” Scully said.

 

“Come here, buddy.”  Mulder held his hand out and wiggled his fingers at the boy. William tiptoed across the floor and Mulder lifted him up into his arms when he got close enough. William yawned again and laid his head down on Mulder’s shoulder.

 

“Sometimes I can’t sleep when I should sleep,” William said.  “Sometimes I want to sleep when I shouldn’t sleep.”

 

Scully hid a silent chuckle by dropping her head down. “His father’s son,” she said.

 

“Maybe you heard Mommy singing and thought you were having a nightmare,” Mulder replied.

 

Scully crossed one leg over the other and kicked Mulder in the shin with her toes. 

 

“I’m glad you didn’t go, Daddy,” William said.

 

“Go where, son?”

 

“I don’t know.  I think it was in my dream.  You were going to go and Aunt Samantha told you not to.”

 

Scully glanced at William and then up at Mulder. They had long since grown accustomed to William’s ghosts.

 

“You don’t have to worry,” Mulder said rubbing William’s back and looking at Scully.  “I’m not going anywhere.”

 

Scully turned her eyes back to the Christmas lights and she kissed Hannah’s head.  “I know a little boy and his little sister who better go back to bed or Santa will have to wait until next year to bring presents.”

 

“Just a few more minutes, Mommy,” William said.

 

“Yeah, just a few more minutes, Mom,” Mulder echoed.

 

Scully shook her head, a bemused smile playing at her lips.  “You’re a bad influence,” she said.

 

“I know,” Mulder murmured, leaning over to give her a soft kiss.  “Merry Christmas, Scully.”

 

“Merry Christmas, Mulder.”

 

 

The End


End file.
